The Radavist

2017 Philly Bike Expo: Walk the Floor and Meet the Builders
Photos by Brad Quartuccio, words by John Watson

Over the years, the Philly Bike Expo has grown to become the Northeast’s premiere bicycle gathering, bringing together frame builders and independent companies alike. This pairing makes for a weekend that not only draws in foot traffic from the streets of Philadelphia but cycling enthusiasts from all over the United States. Most importantly, the Philly Bike Expo is put on by the great Bilenky family, whose main motivation is to unite the scene in a fun, energetic environment and it shows.

Photographer Brad Quartuccio was hired this year to document the show, the bikes and the builders who make this event truly unique. Brad was kind enough to share this wonderful bounty of images, which I’m very excited to share here on the Radavist. After seeing these portraits on his Instagram, I hoped to be able to display them in high-res.

It’s been a while since I’ve attended the show, which falls during a particularly busy time of year for me but after seeing both Jarrod and Brad’s photos, makes me want to book my flight well in advance.

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Follow Brad on Instagram, and the Philly Bike Expo on Instagram

For those looking for a stock-sized, titanium, made in the USA frame, check out No 22’s latest offering: complete bikes in two weeks. Since 2014, No 22 have been building ti frames in their Johnstown, NY factory and now, you don’t have to wait months for one of these frames. No 22 is offering up frames where no detail has been spared, no corner has been cut, with the only difference being the 8-10 week waiting period has been shorted to two, and as a complete build.

These completes utilize a No. 22 full carbon fork and aluminum stem, both custom painted by Velocolour, No. 22 titanium seatpost, custom finished to match each frame, Complete Ultegra 8000 groupset with mechanical shifting, Reynolds carbon tubeless wheels and Schwalbe tubeless tires and a high five. I added in that last part. The models available are the Great Divide in raw finish for USD $5,999, Great Divide Disc in raw finish for USD $6,799, or the Drifter in raw finish for $6,799.

If you want your No 22 anodized, they do that in house. For paint, they go to Velocolour. Each of their bikes are available in a choice of raw or two different anodized finishes, with the fork, stem and their new titanium seatpost finished to match.

If you’ve got questions, send them to No 22 or drop them in the comments.

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Follow Jarrod on Instagram, and No 22 on Instagram

2017 Philly Bike Expo: 44 Bikes Titanium Marauder SSMTB
Photos by Jarrod Bunk, words by John Watson

We saw earlier this week the announcement of 44 Bikes offering titanium as a new frame material for their catalog. This extends to their Marauder hardtail mountain bike frames. The Marauder can come in various configurations, including superboosted, plus, slack and rowdy builds such as this. To up the ante even more, Kris from 44 Bikes added some anodized bits from Wolf Tooth Components give the build some pop. Titanium is a great material for a mountain bike frame and this bike is sure to make its new owner very happy.

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Follow Jarrod on Instagram, and 44 Bikes on Instagram

2017 Philly Bike Expo: People’s Choice Winner – Bishop Bikes Disc Road
Photos by Jarrod Bunk, words by John Watson

The work of Chris Bishop continues to evolve and impress. For this year’s Philly Bike Expo, Chris brought something a bit different. Having teased this frame on his Instagram account prior, from the paint booth of Bryan Myers at Fresh Frame, we knew we were going to see something loud from the Baltimore-based builder. With a Stainless XCR Columbus rear triangle, Paragon Dropouts, a distinguishable Columbus Max fork and Vari-Wal tubing, this modern disc bikes carries many of the classic profile Bishop Bikes has been known for over the years, but the Fresh Frame paint not only coats this bike, it envelops it. The paint compliments the details, such as the stay integration with the Paragon dropouts and the intricate masking on the seat stays.

This has to be Chris’ magnum opus and the attendees of the Philly Bike Expo agree, voting it to a People’s Choice win.

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Follow Jarrod on Instagram, and Bishop Bikes on Instagram

The 2016 Philly Bike Expo Mega Jawn Gallery
Photos and words by Jarrod Bunk

I was happy to be able to attend the Philly Bike Expo this year, albeit only for a short period of time. There were so many gorgeous bikes from awesome craftspeople I could’ve only wished for more time at the show, but prior engagements had me out of there a bit earlier than I would have liked. There was so much to see, and it really was bigger than I expected going into it. That being said I was able to capture a few bikes that I really liked, but didn’t get any face time with other builders that I would have loved to. Next year if I am able to make it out I’m going to make sure to not have any time constraints. I feel like this event is going to only grow, which for me as someone who lives in PA, makes me extremely happy.

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Follow Jarrod on Instagram.

Anna’s Peacock Groove: People’s Choice Philly Bike Expo 2016
Words and photos by Jarrod Bunk

There’s something extra special about this bicycle. I guess you could say it’s the deep custom approach that Eric from Peacock Groove takes. Apparently others felt the same, as this bike wasn’t on the official list for People’s Choice for the Philly Bike Expo, but managed to get enough write in votes to take home The People’s Choice award. Anna had been wanting a Peacock Groove for quite some time,this bike was in planning long before the legend was lost. From the logo braze ons, S & S couplers, one off Paul Klampers, right down the the Peacock Groove Headset, everything has been given an extra touch. Eric even polished up a Paul Comp QR! You might notice the lack of cables on the brakes, this bike has already been assembled and ridden a few months ago, Eric had been battling Pneumonia and got this bike painted and together in just two days for the show.

In addition to all of the custom made braze ons, and one off parts the bike is built to a set of HED rims laced to Chris King hubs, with some memorable lyrics, and even a custom Trash Space Junk bag. It was fantastic listening to Anna talk about how excited she was on this bike, stoke is real. Congrats Eric, and enjoy your (now painted) bike Anna!

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Follow Jarrod on Instagram, Peacock Groove on Instagram and Anna on Instagram.

At the 2012 Philly Bike Expo, one brand I was looking forward to meeting the most was Swift Industries. Their small, yet productive workshop puts out some of the best looking touring bags out there. From small to large panniers, saddle bags, rando bags and even Cetma porteur bags, their entire line screams functionality with personality. Rather than try to photograph the bags inside the convention, I rolled it outside.

These bags are all made by hand in Seattle, Washington and are fully customizable. Check out more below!

This year, I took on the Philly Bike Expo a little differently than year’s past. I didn’t want to even bother trying to cover it all, much less photograph all the Beautiful Bicycles in less than ideal lighting. Instead, I shot what I thought was interesting inside many of the booths and took bikes that I admired outdoors for some lens love.

We’ll start this off with a simple gallery, check it out below and there will be many more bicycles covered here over the next few days.